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Four family members were taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries Monday after lightning struck them in a Scarborough park.

The family, reportedly three adults and a child, were seeking shelter from a fierce thunder storm under a tree in Morningside Park. Witnesses said lightning struck the tree and the people underneath around 3 p.m.

“I saw a big red flash,” said Conrad Muir. “Scary is an understatement.”

Muir said a police officer and city park attendant jumped into action, calling for paramedics and administering CPR.

“By this time it was just coming down in buckets, heavy,” he said. “What strikes me about this is how unselfish both of them were. Keep in mind, it’s a lightning strike, there’s a risk of more and there was another strike. It just didn’t happen at that spot.”

In fact, the other strike occurred just metres away when EMS arrived. The strike hit a nearby willow tree and the surge from the lightning bolt knocked out the electrical system onboard the ambulance, leaving it stranded. Another ambulance had to be dispatched to the scene.

“I’ve never seen anything like this and I don’t wish to ever see anything like it again,” Muir said. “It’s no good for the cardiovascular system. Let’s put it that way.”

Michelle, who was metres away when the first strike hit, said she thought the family was dead.

“They all went down together, it was so sudden,” she said. “They were just lying there like they were frozen.”

She called the police officer and park attendant heroes for their quick efforts to revive the family.

Peter Rotolo, Toronto EMS commander for District 5, said he’s never seen anything like the incident in his 40-year career. He also praised the police officer and park attendant.

“They certainly did an excellent job,” he said. “They took care of the family, provided first aid treatment and kept everybody calm and took care of everybody else.”

Michael Heralall, of the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, said the storm dumped between 20 mm and 30 mm of rain on the city in a short time. Despite that, area waterways seem to have handled the deluge and flooding was at a minimum.

“The likely impacts are the drainage systems on your roadways will be temporarily overwhelmed for a bit,” he said. “That will pond up in low-lying areas.”

The Burlington area appeared to be hardest hit, with major flooding reported on Highway 407 at Guelph Line.

There were also other stretches of GTA-area highways, including the QEW, which flooded Monday night.